How
do you get cameras, infra-red sensors, microwave sensors
into space so they can observe the cloud patterns, wind and wave patterns,
humidity and temperature patterns, and other phenomena that indicate
the state of weather and climate on our planet. This is the problem
confronting engineers who design the satellites that ride atop the
mighty rockets that launch these vehicles into orbit. The
solutions have been disks such as the early TIROS vehicles, vehicles
that are either cylinders or cubic such as various GOES vehicles,
or even vehicles such as the TIROS -N series that looked somewhat
like an orbiting boxcar. All of these vehicles have a proud heritage
of observing vital weather information for helping save lives and
protect property.